


Doki Doki Grist Panic!

by TheMockingCrows



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Magical Boys, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, suffocation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:02:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27802735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMockingCrows/pseuds/TheMockingCrows
Summary: The life of a magical boy is a tough one, but Dave doesn't really have much of a choice in the matter. It's the fate he was handed, and the fate he'll cope with. With new enemies spawning in his city left and right, Dave has his hands full trying to maintain the peace and little time for much else. That is, until the cute boy he rescued turns up in his college class and seems to share all of his interests. Is love on the horizon? Or is love too much to hope for in this line of work?
Relationships: John Egbert/Dave Strider
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

There were nearly too many to count by the time Dave arrived on the scene, dark creatures that looked like they were born from an oil slick, their shoulders and head decked with odd looking colorful scraps of fabric collars and hats. Most of the people had fled the area when the hungry beasts had turned up, but a few victims had been downed by the creatures, their bodies lying limp surrounded by bright colorful gems of energy in a rainbow of colors.

Grist. It was the energy of this planet, the energy that powered every living thing, and as such it was a tasty target for most enemies from beyond the asteroid belt who wanted a quick powerup. Dave had run into plenty of creatures before, both from home and from beyond, who were a threat to the populace, but he’d never seen beings act this efficiently before.

Everywhere the creatures jumped they left behind an oily mess, even soiling the grist their greedy hands reached for, wanting to throw the delicate candy looking items into their mouths. Were they just going to eat them to further their own power? Or were they eating them to transport them? It didn’t matter. They weren’t going to get far. Dave was planning on doing a silent takedown, a sneak attack, but he realized there was a risk. A lone person was standing in the midst of the carnage, dark hair and tanned skin stark against a blue sweater the color of the crisp autumn sky itself and a bright white shirt collar.

He had to get them safe, before they fell to the same fate as the scattered bodies.

Right. Showy it was, then.

“STOP RIGHT THERE,” Dave cried, bounding out of cover and out into view in a flash of red. His black and white knee high boots, black buttons shining on the side, clicked on the concrete as he landed safely from the larger than life jump he’d performed. The black leggings he wore beneath the red, gear pattern edged tunic were pristine from the recent transformation, the same material coating his arms and chest like a second skin. The dark red cape he wore fluttered in the wind, hood down and back, white hair windswept. It was quite the impressive appearance, all things considered.

“Wh-what?” said the soon to be victim. His eyes were pretty to look at behind the thick glasses he wore, black frames perched on his nose. He didn’t look nearly as terrified as he should have, but then again shock can do a lot to a person.

“Get to cover!” Dave barked, a gloved hand pointing to the clear area he’d come from. As planned, the creatures focused on him, pausing in their gorey gathering ritual to flock his direction. Another flash of red, the afterimage of a slowly ticking gear hanging behind him for a moment and Dave had summoned his weapon of choice, a long silvery blade with a gilt crossguard, broadsword firm and true. He bounced on the balls of his feet for a moment, hyping himself up as he shifted his grip, before pointing the sword at the incoming beasts.

“You will not best me. I am a warrior of Earth and you’re not gonna get in my way!” he shouted.

Time slowed around him briefly, the clock gear flashing in the air behind him as he darted forwards, giving him enough speed and delay to get in the heavy strikes he needed against the inky interlopers. Their bodies felt solid at first hit, but when they collapsed it was into grist and oil slick once more. Darting around this way, the creatures slower than usual, gave him an upper hand that was in some ways criminal. They were low tier creatures judging from their density alone and the lack of a fight they put up, but their numbers were still worrisome to Dave. He was panting by the time he finished the slicing and dicing, black gunk coated grist littering the ground behind him.

He held the sword as he caught his breath before slowly straightening, loosening his grip on it and willing it back from where it had been summoned. The released grist was slowly beginning to move, rolling and bouncing back towards the limp bodies they had come from. With luck, they’d wake up soon. No doubt the police would be coming shortly, ambulance in tow, if only from the amount of people that had run away in terror.

Right, where was- Oh. Good, there he was. The fellow from before, mister blue sweater, seemed fine and dandy. A little wide eyed in shock now, but who could blame him? It wasn’t often that Dave had to make appearances where people could see him. It was far, far easier being a magical boy out of view of the populace, guarding people from a distance, not having to deal with aftermath even if he was capable of making quick escapes unseen. Mister blue sweater might have been hit if he hadn’t exposed himself as he had.

Actually, speaking of-

“What’s your name?” Dave asked as he clicked his way closer to the bystander’s side, glancing him over. No sign of damage. A little oil on his shoes, when he looked closer, but otherwise unharmed. Good.

“John,” said the black haired fellow. “Who are..?”

Dave smiled a bit, reaching a gloved hand up to flick his bangs away from his face. “Doesn’t matter who I am. John, you got really lucky. Do me a favor: when the cops get here, make sure that the people who are still asleep get help. They should wake up soon, but some might be feeling sick for a while after this. Grist doesn’t always redistribute evenly, when there’s a lot scattered like that.” Pain in the neck, really, but what could anyone do? Somehow have an inventory of how much grist people had at the moment of attack then inventory reclaimed grist and distribute it evenly? Impossible.

He smiled then, blue eyes crinkling at the edges, and showed buck teeth that were actually pretty charming when taken in with the rest of the whole. The upside of this duty Dave had, this burden in some lights, was that he got to see all kinds of people. Even the really cute ones. Charmed, but needing to beat feet, Dave smirked and turned around, making a series of difficult leaps to reach the top of the buildings before speeding away, flash stepping out of sight and allowing the magic to slowly fade. There were no more feelings of intense wrong, nothing on his internal radar nearby, at least for the night. Safety had returned. Time to relax.

By the time Dave was closer to home, his hair had changed back to blonde from the stark white it had been during the fight, and the uniform had returned to the clothing he’d been wearing before the change, a simple t-shirt and some jeans with rips in the knees, sunglasses, high top sneakers and a chain wallet, his keys with the stupid heart keychain Dirk had given him that he’d never bothered to get rid of. He made his way up the long sets of stairs before unlocking the door with his key, waving to his Bro where he sat on the futon in front of the television, playing a video game.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” he heard back, ignoring the sound of familiar game music in favor of carefully raiding the fridge for something to eat. “Very big of a mess this time?”

“Nah. Nothing I can’t handle,” Dave said, settling on a bottle of juice. Instant ramen sounded better than the leftovers that were available, even if it was mostly salt and carbs. He was tired and needed something hot. “Y’know, if you thought it might be a big mess you could’ve at least bothered to cook.”

“You’re a big boy, you can handle it,” Bro said casually. “When I used to run around on the beat, I-”

“Flew uphill both ways in the snow,” Dave said flatly, annoyed, but breaking his noodles into a bowl and adding water and the powder before slapping it into the microwave to cook.

“No, I was gonna say I didn’t have anyone to run me a bath and cook me stuff, I was on my own. If I could do it, you can do it. Who knows when I won’t be here to help back you up anyway?”

“Back me up?” Dave said, brows lifting over his shades. “You can’t back shit up when it comes to some of these things!”

“Please, Dave. I might not be magic anymore, but I still know how the fuck to fight some monsters.”

“If anyone could back me up against monsters, it’d be Dirk, but he’s off bein’ a prettyboy ninja stud fuck knows where. You need magic to beat this shit, or at least the shit that’s turned up in the last few years. You know that. You knew that before you gave everything up an-”

Bro was quiet for a moment before he paused his game and sighed, leaning back against the futon, interrupting Dave’s train of words. “Yeah, yeah, I know. C’mon, man, at least let me pretend I’d be useful to your ass beyond fightin’ practice.”

“I don’t need fighting practice! You always wanna use katanas, I use a broadsword! A  **_broadsword_ ** !” Dave said, looking to the microwave when it beeped before aggressively popping it open. He grabbed a fork and his hot noodles before heading for the hallway. “I’m gonna go eat, shout if you need me. Or text, or whatever.”

Bro frowned, but let Dave go without a word. Not that he could really say much. He knew how much stress Dave was under, knew he could probably help in some ways that would matter a lot, but knowing there was no way to gauge how much longer he’d even be around to begin with, it made it hard to know when to try being close and when to push further away.

Probably better to just keep things at arms length like they had been for a few years now, make it easier for them both. The last thing Bro wanted to do was become a source of weakness for Dave, after all.

It was the least he’d be able to do.

  
  


\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The last face Dave expected to see on Monday was a familiar one. Amidst the chatter of his classmates filling the lecture hall, Dave spotted messy dark hair and shining blue eyes, black glasses with thick square lenses. When he spoke, when he grinned at someone, he saw the buck teeth that had finalized the squirm in his stomach on the weekend. It was still early enough in the semester that students were dropping and adding classes left and right, so it wasn’t unthinkable that there’d be another handful of new faces in the class for a while. The fact it was this one, though, was surprising. More surprising still was the eventual way the tall guy made his way towards the back, towards Dave’s table, and pointed at the seat beside him.

“That open? Everyone else has their bags on their chairs, I guess they’re saving them for someone else,” he said.

More like trying to deter randos from sitting beside them, Dave thought, realizing he’d forgotten to do the exact same thing. Whoops. Oh well, not the worst person in the world to want to sit beside him and listen to the professor prattle on up in front of the lecture hall.

“Yeah, it’s open,” said Dave after a moment of processing that… shit this guy was pretty fucking cute up close. Sounded nice too, when he wasn’t high off adrenaline. He kicked his backpack further under the tabletop and glanced down at his laptop, making sure he wasn’t on anything embarrassing without realizing it. Nope, youtube and a flash game till the class started (and for during class if the guy went off topic and wouldn’t get back to the relevant things for class, as was this Professor’s apparent specialty).

“My name’s John,” offered messy hair as he sat down. “What’s yours?”

His name didn’t matter.

“Dave,” he said, grinning a bit. “Nice to meet you, John.”

“Oh man, you’re subscribed to them too?” he asked suddenly, pointing to the screen. “I’ve been watching their Lets Plays for years, it’s kinda amazing how much they break the games they play. And it’s neat to see two girls running a channel that big, normally it’s guys as far as the eye can see.”

“Yeah? I feel ya,” Dave said, glancing to the screen again and clicking to pause. Rose was in the process of executing a risky near game breaking glitch that would speed them towards the ultimate weapon of the game, while Jade was explaining the process and the details, as well as the history of the game itself, and giving real life comparisons to the events and reality. He’d seen this episode at least a half dozen times, but the duo were charming as hell and really knew their shit. Cut throat and cut throat, and yet entertaining and casual. “Space Needle is kind of a weird name for a channel though. Isn’t that a landmark somewhere?”

“I know, but have you heard Jade go on about space and technology before?”

“Oh yeah, her science corner,” Dave mused. Shit, this guy really was a fan. ...Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad being distracted by him after all, they’d managed to break the ice without even a second thought.

The professor had finally made his way into the classroom, however, and Dave nodded his direction to John, who hurriedly dug into his bag for his own laptop. Right, time to focus now. They could geek out later. Dave didn’t miss the Space Needle sticker on the back, along with an impressive amount of other insignia that Dave could only guess at. Dude seemed into pop culture to a wicked degree, there were even memes on display, up to date ones too.

They were hard cut to focus though, finding it much more fun to whisper back and forth about their favorite episodes, their favorite quotes, in jokes and memes. John apparently had started watching fairly recently but was already die hard, and was living for Dave’s deeper lore on the channel. The whispering only stopped when the professor focused enough to catch them, calling for quiet in the back. They exchanged guilty smirks and went back to actually focusing, taking notes from the display and trying to decipher what would be most important from what was being said to note down as well.

When the class ended, it was back to business as they packed up and headed out, deciding to hit the cafeteria for more conversation and a snack before they had to go their separate ways. Dave’s eventual regretful time to leave came all too soon after he’d finished some fries, and he was surprised when John handed over not only his discord information, but his phone number on a scrap napkin. His handwriting was messy but clear, and on his way to his next destination Dave took care to gently set it into his bag for later.

He’d gotten a cute guys details without even asking. Discord was one thing, but his phone number? Holy shit. The fact that it’d be difficult to remain casual with him was going to be the next task at hand, what with his duties and all, but Dave had confidence he’d manage it.

He could handle saving the world. Of course he could handle a cute guy at the same time.

Somehow.

  
  
  
  


\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  
  


Somehow seemed a lot further away when Dave was busy. A lot less possible. How could he juggle a friendship casually, much less with a really cute guy, while dealing with shit like this every other day? Another attack had laid low several people, with the creatures showing they could reproduce with enough of the inky substance on the ground. Someone had unleashed another flow of them, but this time they seemed prepared to fight back.

They had sharp claws that cut at the fabric of Dave’s cape, and his usual speed didn’t seem enough for dealing with them with such a heavy weapon. He vaguely wished he had the skills to use a katana like Dirk or Bro properly, one handed and speedy as sound itself, but alas. His mantle was the royal deringer and no less. Fate seemed to think he could handle a broadsword, so a broadsword he was dealt.

When a group of the imps managed to knock him over, sending him flying into the air and then skidding along the ground till he came to a halt, Dave knew he’d need to change tactics. Slowly getting up onto his scuffed white boots once more, Dave began to circle the creatures, biding his time and waiting till he could strike properly. They were mindless before, but this time they seemed to be working as a team, occasionally using each other as weapons or sending projectiles made of sludgy oil Dave’s direction. He’d dodge, dance backwards, flash step sideways to avoid. He needed to act quickly, though. It appeared as though there was potentially a way for them to combine themselves, to become even larger. Deadlier. Finally though, they left themselves open.

Gritting his teeth, Dave felt the surge in his blood as the gears activated in the air behind him, flashing brightly as they turned. He flash stepped forwards and angled his blade, slicing clean through four in a go before flash stepping another direction and backstabbing another. He bounced about this way for a good thirty seconds of real time, dodging slightly slowed attacks and striking what he hoped were key points of these taller, more deadly imps. Grist showered the ground with the falling oil, a slow motion wave that only grew in intensity as he finally shouted and beheaded the final creature and came to a knee to catch his breath.

His arms burnt, his back ached, and the ticking throb in his head only seemed to get more and more intense as the gears slowed and finally disappeared following his strife. He was coated in oil, and was thankful he didn’t need to worry about cleaning and detailing his weapon as he sent it back where it had come from, let alone cleaning himself or his uniform. He ran a hand through oily white hair and grimaced, looking at the fallen grist, the fallen people, and shook his head.

A repeat attack so soon, escalating no less, meant that this foe wasn’t just another one and done mission. Something felt… wrong. Intensely wrong, really. Dave couldn’t put his finger on it, but his instincts were telling him to be wary of the situation.

With the sound of sirens on the horizon, Dave bolted from the scene, taking to the building tops with some parkour and extreme jumps, flash stepping some distances and simply taking cover for others till he could return to the ground in a desolate area. Away went the magic, a gear appearing overhead and quickly whipping over him to the ground, returning him to his normal clothes.

If only it could take away the fatigue, too.

And the sense of loneliness that cropped up not long after as he was walking back to where he’d ditched his backpack originally tonight, passing by a gaggle of people out having fun, unaware of the danger that lurked around them. Unaware of just how great they had it, being able to go to the movies with friends whenever they wanted to instead of forever being on call.

Would he be like that someday, somehow? Find a way to get peace for extended periods, or peace everlasting? Not eternally being on call? Or would he be like Bro, powerless and essentially alone, traumatized and waiting for his timer to tick down. ...No. He’d never be like Bro, probably. Bro had given everything up for him. It was his fault he was-

A chirp from Dave’s phone alerted him that he was near his bag, and just in time to boot. He rummaged in the pocket to dig it out, and blinked at the screen.

John. 

That’s right… He had a friend now. ...Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad. He actually smiled as he lit the screen up and tapped out a reply, shouldering his bag before heading home. It was more discussion of Space Needle, which was a welcome distraction from how Dave felt, and how his thoughts had begun turning.

  
  


ectoBiologist: so like i was saying, i just heard about their next lets play and i’m freaking out a bit!

turntechGodhead: yeah?? whats planned

ectoBiologist: they’re going to cover SBURB! can you believe it?

turntechGodhead: sburb huh

turntechGodhead: seems their style i guess

turntechGodhead: didnt it get kinda mid reviews though

ectoBiologist: some people rated it sub par but i don’t care, i think it sounds great.

ectoBiologist: i don’t know what would be better, if it was a great game or if it was a spectacular piece of shit they can tear apart on screen.

turntechGodhead: think theyll stream any of it

ectoBiologist: oh shit i hope so!

  
  
  


The banter carried Dave all the way home, up the familiar stairs, and into the apartment where he was surprised to smell food cooking. The room was warm from the stove and oven being on, catching Dave out of the conversation and into reality once more, freezing and lifting a brow.

“Okay, what’s happenin’, you don’t cook.”

Bro, sprawled out on the futon again with his long legs crossed, smirked from beneath the brim of his hat.

“Excuse the fuck outta you, I do too. It’s just been a goddamn long time.”

“Okay, you don’t cook for me though,” Dave clarified, setting his bag down.

“Who said it’s for you?”

“...”

“I’m fuckin’ with you. There’s a casserole in the oven and some sides on the stove. Eat up.”

“I need a shower first,” Dave said, remembering all too well the feeling of oil in his hair, oil hitting his face, the bittersweet smell of the inky sludge. After warning John he was going offline for a bit, Dave dropped his bag in his room and went to clean himself up. It’d be the first night in a long while he felt secure, comfortable, warm, clean, AND full all at once.

There were worse ways to spend an evening than falling asleep on his phone after too much supper. Though, right then, Dave couldn’t really think of any. All he could think about was the cute boy on the other end of the discord handle, his favorite gamers prepping for a new title they could experience at the same time, and the lulling comfort of sleep seeping into his bones.


	2. Chapter 2

Being a magical boy was, in essence, a life long gig. If you did well and kept the peace and grew in power, you could be granted freedom from the fate that was chosen for you from the denizens with their aspects. Sometimes. Other times, you could make it all that way and still have your hand forced in unpredictable ways.

The scent of blood ran through Dave’s nose, and with it the feeling of power rushing through his own. The enemy had been a big one, and he’d been very young, new to the mantle. He still didn’t know how to fight with his blade properly, too used to the one handed flailing that constituted practice with his brother on the rooftop. It had been too big, too much to handle alone, at least without unlocking a top tier ability that came with a terrible price. The words of Hephaestus rang through Dave’s ears, guiding his hands to drop the sword and instead focus on the time turners, the mystic assisting devices he bore.

He scratched forwards, backwards, then spun them both at the same time without thinking, feeling the rush of time like a punch to the stomach. He’d nearly vomited, holding onto his bile through sheer spite alone, and landed in the past. Standing behind himself, he waited until the moment was right before rushing forwards, leaping over his own striking form, and landing on the monster’s face. He planted a hand on its warm flesh and sunk his gloved fingers in to secure his grip before turning the timetables again, forcing time to freeze entirely.

The nausea came again, and Dave became acutely aware of his own heartbeat, the understanding of what was happening right then and there. Time was ticking down on his own clock, life but a borrowed timepiece itself, the high price to pay for messing with the flow of time.

Fitting, really.

Dave summoned his sword back to his hand and lifted his hands, striking what looked like a weak spot on the massive beast… and immediately was whipped off as time surged back into its normal flow, slamming back into a wall and sliding down to the ground limply.

Bro was there.

He wasn’t alone, Bro was there. He could hear his voice, but as if through a tunnel before his ears started ringing, and couldn’t lift his head up to reply properly. His sword was still embedded in the creature, but it wasn’t enough to take it down. Bro had his katana. Even if he wasn’t a magical boy any longer, even if he was at risk, he still had his weapon and a lot of power on his side. The monster soon fell in half, sliced as if by a clean saw blade, grist pouring out of it like a pinata up into the air to bounce and begin returning from whence it had come.

That was a hero.

One strike, and that was all it had taken. Bro went to his knee afterwards, clutching at his heart and breathing hard, feeling the pang of the echo of Yaldabaoth once more.

That was really a hero. He’d fought even though that strike had cost him. Even though there was no way to reverse what he’d done, giving his power up to restore the peace in a cataclysmic event. Even though every exertion could be his last, heart weakened by the exchange. 

He was a hero, and yet Dave was the magical one now, and he needed to figure out how the fuck to live up to that kind of exchange. Given the feeling earlier during the fight, the sensation of his life altering, Dave was able to glimpse likely how his own life would end someday. ...Would he make it to old age, still? Or would he go young? It would depend on how he fought, and on how things worked out, he supposed.

Dave lost consciousness.

When he woke up it was in a cold sweat in his own bed, tangled in his sheets, chest heavy and face pale. He sat bolt upright and rubbed his face with both hands before slowly creeping out of bed and making his way to his brother’s room, peeking in on him. Waiting. Watching for his broad chest to rise and fall. When it did, proving he was still alive, Dave finally felt like he could breathe.

That dream again. When would he be able to stop having that dream? When he was able to surpass a monster of that level on his own and make it look so easy? Or when he’d spent so much time that every second counted? He’d been careless a few times, had left time frozen for too long at different times to be thorough instead of just slowing it, cementing the use of even more of his own time. How much did he have left? What about Bro, how much did he have left? Could Dave share some of his time with him?

It didn’t work like that, and Dave knew it. But fuck did he wish it did.

Quietly, he went to get a juice from the fridge before padding back to his room and his phone, popping onto discord to scroll the different servers he was in. People in different timezones had posted some prime quality memes and he wanted to stay on top of things, sharing and redistributing from place to place to help choice ones spread easier. He checked his SB&HJ server and was pleased to see that it was absolute chaos.

Dave had changed screens and was starting to read an article someone had linked when his phone buzzed in his hand, alerting him to a new DM.

John.

  
  
  
  


ectoBiologist: hey, i know it’s early but i saw you logged on so i thought it’d be alright to send this.

ectoBiologist: when i got my copy of sburb there was a key for an extra copy! would you like it?

ectoBiologist: we could play while watching the lets play from space needle, see if we find any secrets before them!

  
  
  


Dave grinned at his phone. Who was he to turn down a free videogame? Especially one he already wanted. 

  
  
  


turntechGodhead: yeah man sign me up

turntechGodhead: im sure we can break that thing ten ways from sunday once we pass the character creation screen

ectoBiologist: oh dave, why dream so small? we can break it starting from the character screen.

turntechGodhead: sounds like a challenge

turntechGodhead: first one to find a game breaking glitch wins

  
  


Dave chattered with John for a while before eventually falling back to sleep, grateful to find his dreams a little more cheerful. Fanciful even, to the point where even Dirk would no doubt tease him. Simple dreams of a kiss, going somewhere quiet, and exploring a bit further of each other...

  
  
  


\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  


A videogame was a small price to pay to get to talk to Dave more, John decided. The code was easy enough to get, and while it was a foolish waste of time, it was a foolish waste of time with someone that intrigued him. The internet signals from Earth had been available during his trip here, and while it was majority trite, a video about space and technology had caught his interest, cementing his focus on the lets play channel Space Needle. John set his communicator- No… His cellphone. He set the cellphone down and went to a mirror, staring himself down.

Corruption ate at him, skin a dark gray and eyes far too bright, trails of dark wind caressing his white hair. John existed in a state of flow and movement, drifting from place to place comfortably. It took effort to remember to walk sometimes, but when under cover, he needed to be sure to keep both feet flat on the ground as much as he needed to keep his appearance ‘normal’. Here though, here in his makeshift home, he was free to float as he pleased, and did so to make his way from the mirror to the tanks where the beasts were grown.

Ectobiology was something that took a hell of a lot of grist, as was normal biology. So much grist, so little time. He stroked the front of the tank of a chess piece and bit his lip, wondering if it would be ready to go yet, or if he’d need to rely on the imps much longer. There were always the ogres… but the chess pieces would be his best bet for gathering the grist he needed for his home world.

The wind whipped his hair harder as he thought of home, remembering the deaths, the torrents of destruction, the wave after wave of defeats that had brought his world to its knees. He hadn’t been strong enough to fix everything by himself. But now… now there was a way. A way to bring it all back, maybe even stronger than before, and restore his planet to its rightful state.

He just needed a planet worth of grist to restore his own to the way things were. And, conveniently, here was a planet chock fucking full of it, ripe for the taking. John just needed to reach out and take it.

The boy in red was going to be a nuisance, though, he could already feel it. Someone with the power to not only stop swarms of imps, but to restore grist to its natural place? What a pain! What if there were more of them? This place was just his first stop, he needed seed grist as it were to start his little project. Chess monsters didn’t grow on their own without grist, and the natural grown grist was going slowly. He needed more. Heaps and heaps off it, not the pennies worth he’d been able to scrounge so far.

John needed to think bigger.

A chime from his cellphone made him blink and drift lazily back over, checking it. Ah. New upload from Space Needle. They’d already begun to play SBURB and the first episode was a walkthrough of them messing with the character creation screen from the thumbnail, to create the most amazingly terrible creation to inhabit the game from the get go.

Admirable.

He hoped Dave and he were able to do nearly as much as they were able to do, John was curious to see what Dave would come up with.

...Dave.

Dave was another issue, John realized. 

The life on Earth was just most grist for the taking, but this Dave fellow looked interesting. He had an attractive face and long, reedy limbs that he seemed to like hiding beneath baggy clothes, soft looking blonde hair. John wanted to keep looking at him rather than listen to the professor talk about whatever the fuck he assumed was important for Earthlings to learn, but it would have just blown his cover to stand out further.

Someone that attractive, and into the same things he was, was picking at the scab of loneliness in John’s heart. The wound of solitude that he’d borne since his home world fell apart. Could he really destroy the Earth and all its inhabitants when he knew one of them was precious to him?

Perhaps.

Or, better yet, what if he could convince Dave to love him? If he loved him, he could convince him to come with him to his home, to his real world. A better world than this one. They could be together still, and things would go back to normal like they were before, and he could return to his house with all of his things and have someone like Dave on his arm.

A pretty daydream, but a daydream nonetheless.

Drifting once more, phone in hand, John sent a few more messages to Dave while he was offline before dropping the connection and heading towards his tech once again. Imps were worthless. Maybe if there was an ogre as backup…. Yes, that should do it. That should get some of the results he wanted.

Soon enough, he would have this world on its knees. John just hoped he could get Dave into his hand before the point of no return.

  
  


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A few weeks had passed since first meeting John properly, and Dave already couldn’t imagine hanging out with anyone else. They had so much in common, and every other minute Dave was able to spare was spent deep in conversation with him on discord. They’d begun playing SBURB together, and while they weren’t able to find all the glitches and game breaks that the girls over on Space Needle were able to find, they’d been able to find their own brand of shenanigans. Dave had secured John a special weapon from his own guardian that he was able to use in his game, and John was able to find ways to essentially reach from area to area like a glitch warp. 

The girls had ripped into SBURB like none other, and it was exciting to watch their numbers to climb with new fans who were enjoying their work as much as Dave and John did. The fandom was growing, and even in Dave’s other servers people were starting to share the memes.

The day that John asked if he wanted to go hang out had been, at first, an immediate ‘yes’ from Dave. ...Till he realized that this was less a hangout and more of a date. Instead of their shooting the shit at and near campus, they met up to watch a movie, instead of fast food they went to a restaurant and John said he’d foot the bill. Dave couldn’t relax properly. Was this okay? Was this really what he thought it was, or was this just a changeup of a hangout formula? If it  _ was  _ a date, was that okay too? Did Dave even have time for a boyfriend?

The idea was appealing… And didn’t he have a right to some kind of happiness for himself? He had to keep his secrets, but surely he could balance it all?

John slipped his warm fingers around Dave’s as they left the restaurant, and soon they were laced together, casual as could be, while Dave struggled to keep a calm face on. Hand. Holding hands. When was the last time he held hands with someone? His face felt like it was burning off, and all he could do to keep calm was keep his facial muscles under control in the form of small grins and darting glances behind his shades as they walked.

They made it all the way back to Dave’s apartment like that before John released his hand and returned his own to his pockets. Dave curled his fingers a few times at his sides before stuffing his hands into his pockets as well, casual as could be.

“Wanna do that again sometime? I had a lot of fun,” John said, grinning at him the same way he smiled at everything he liked a lot.

“Yeah, I would. I had fun too.” Fun was an understatement.

They stood awkwardly together then for a moment, watching the cars pass by on the road out front, Dave unsure if he should invite John up without warning Bro, and John unsure if he should do what he wanted to. In the end, John was the one who acted. He leaned and pressed a kiss to Dave’s cheek before pulling back and taking a few steps backwards.

“I should get going, my dad would be upset if I’m gone too long,” he said.

Still more or less in shock, ears ringing, Dave just nodded.

"Right. Yeah, that’d. That’d be bad. Don’t want a mad dad.”

“Yeah,” John chuckled. “See you later, Dave!” he said, adding a wave as he turned and headed off.

Dave was left on his stoop waving for a good thirty seconds before his brain caught up with what had happened and he dropped his arm, wide eyed. Okay. This was a problem. A good problem? But a problem. He turned and raced his way upstairs to his apartment, rattling his keys before managing to unlock the door and get in, leaning against it once he slammed it shut. He stayed there a few seconds before slowly sliding down to the ground, still wide eyed.

Bro, who was alert and watching everything now that Dave was inside, only lifted a brow.

“Need me to beat his ass? What happened.”

“No, no, just. It was great. Everything was great.”

“Then what’s the problem, you look like you got hit by a truck.”

“I just. ...fuck, man, is this aright?” he finally asked from the floor, looking towards the futon. “Is it okay to have this?”

“Why you askin’ me?” Bro asked, brow raising. “That’s your damn business.”

“Yeah but like. If you were in my position and a guy wanted to go out with you, would you?”

“Bet your ass I would, those boots ain’t gonna knock themselves.”

“Not what I meant,” Dave groaned, rubbing his face before looking down at his hands, wiggling the fingers of the one John had held for so long. It still felt warmer than the other somehow. “Like. ...Is it safe? What if I put him at risk? What if he finds out?”

“Better not find out, and he’s only in as much risk as you put him in,” Bro shrugged. “I dunno man, it’s a sticky situation. There’s no right or wrong answers, only smart or increasingly stupid ones.”

Dave made an uncertain noise from the ground before standing up and dusting his ass off, going to the fridge for more jui-

“We’re out.”

“Oh yeah, I drank the last one. Wanna come with me to the store and help heft shit?”

“Yeah. No heftin’ for you,” Dave said pointedly. “You can drag the granny cart. Just take that stupid plush off of it.”

“Excuse you, Sir Wilmington Squeaks is not goin’ anywhere but on a fine trip to the grocery store,” Bro said, already standing to get the folded up shopping cart with a smuppet strapped aboard the top. “He makes a great lid, keeps stuff from bouncin’ out when it goes up the stairs.”

Though Dave made a face, he was charmed still. This was a normal day, more normal than he'd had for a while. One of, hopefully, many to come. If only peace from outside threats was more constant.


	3. Chapter 3

One thing about being a magical boy that Dave was grateful eternally for was the fact that transforming gave him a brief bit of invincibility. Nothing could touch him, wounds hurt less and healed faster, and it gave him precious seconds to orient himself in a battle ready way. This creature was bigger than the imps he’d fought before, an ogre in its own right, strangely colored hat matching the lesser enemies that bounced around its feet in a way that had Dave realizing they were from the same source. So. This wasn’t going to be a repeat annoyance, but an escalating one.

Fine.

Let it be, then.

He’d kick whatever came at him back faster and harder than ever any time it came, just try him. This was HIS planet, and he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. ...Though, going down was precisely what he did after an aimed attack went sour and a massive fist caught him mid-air, sending him to the ground like a ragdoll. He could taste blood in his mouth, and in the air that was forced out of his lungs, but he’d been here before. Reacting quickly, he rolled once, then twice when the creature tried to hammer its fist downwards where he lay, avoiding its strike narrowly enough that it yanked at his cape when the ground gave way under its fist.

He was grateful the attacks seemed to be fast and efficient when it came to affecting humans around him, knocking them senseless and leaving him with plenty of room to fight without worrying about anyone getting in the way.

“AGH!”

Now if he could just remember a thing or two about not getting in the way, when it came to fighting. The ogre was  _ fast _ , faster than its massive size should have allowed, and with its great horned mouth ready to gore him, Dave had only just managed to avoid the strike at a glance. His side ached, bruised or bleeding, and as he sprung back up to his white boots and bounced back several paces to orient himself and summon his weapon, he already knew he’d need to borrow time to beat this thing.

Time. His time. It was getting harder and harder not to think about the fact he was literally using his life to save people, that someday he’d be gone if he wasn’t careful. That he wouldn’t probably live to some kind of retirement or advancement if this kept up. That he’d just be replaced.

Where was Dirk when he needed him, they could double team this without the extra time being used. Could manage to fight it down, kill it in a few quick moves that he couldn’t execute on his own.

Gritting his teeth, Dave summoned the timetables and gave them a spin, slowing time considerably instead of outright stopping it, deciding to be stingy for now. Another heartbeat and his sword was heavy in his hands, the tip dipping down before he swept it over his shoulder and dashed forwards, running up the beast’s arm before slashing at its thick neck. Decapitation seemed like it would be easier to do than just stabbing through its thick body, but his swing seemed to do little damage. It bled thick oil, noxious and sticky and black as pitch, and from its puddles Dave could already see lesser imps trying to form, newly birthed. It was like a hydra, only thankfully the new heads were kind of inept compared to the original head.

When the ogre shook, Dave jumped shoulder to shoulder to evade, all the while stabbing sharply at its neck, its shoulders, its chest. When nothing seemed to do much lasting damage, he jumped, did a quick spin, and dug his sword into its back before dragging downward with his entire weight, opening it like a surgical seam. That seemed to do the trick. When time sped back up, he was splattered with the sticky substance from his hands to his shoulders, face slick and tired. Yet, it wasn’t over. There were imps to deal with at full speed if he didn’t want to waste more of his time… and Dave could sense that he was being watched.

Another enemy? Where was this feeling coming from? He didn’t have time to try focusing on it, already swinging his sword at imps and trying not to let the slickened blade fall from his hands, dashing this way and that among the rising bodies to try slicing and attacking them before they could fully emerge, trying to save time. Everything was cutting corners when it came to fighting for Dave. How closely could he skim those corners safely? How long could he last doing that before it bit him in the ass?

A harsh wind blew when he’d defeated the last imp, hard enough it whipped his damp cape up and around him, tunic’s bottom edge flapping upwards. That had come out of nowhere, and was definitely harder than a normal gust should be from nature when there had been no build up. Not a cloud in the sk-

Something was in the sky.

No.

Some _ one  _ was in the sky.

“IS THIS YOUR DOING?” Dave shouted upwards towards the solitary humanoid figure. Gray skin, white hair and a haunted glow where its eyes should be… A long, dark blue tail of fabric swirled around it like it had a life of its own, dancing on the breeze at the higher altitude. No doubt about it: that was where the sense of being watched had come from.

The figure remained silent. Displeased, Dave took a step forward and shouted again.

“THIS PLANET IS MY HOME, AND I WON’T LET YOU DO AS YOU FUCKING PLEASE TO IT! Come down here and fight me instead of using your minions to do it!”

He regretted those words. One moment the figure had been in the air, the next a dark gust of air flowed down towards him in a rush, stopping face to face with him, making him gasp and step backwards a pace before jumping even further back and lifting the sword. Prepared to fight. The figure, blue clad save for a set of yellow shoes, lifted a hand to the side… and summoned a-

What was that? A hammer? It looked like a toy almost, wildly colored and patterned, impossible for Dave to really wrap his head around its oddly boxy shape. Big as it was it should have been heavy to lift, yet this person held it one handed before shifting it to two for a better grip. The hammer lifted, and instead of aiming to strike at Dave or his weapon, it struck the ground.

Dave had never before experienced percussion like that blow. The weapon struck the concrete and seemed to go off like a bomb, the ground crumbling beneath it, the air itself hitting him like a punch to the face that sent him reeling backwards, unprepared. Stunned. He was in the process of rising up again when the figure stepped forwards, then over him, reaching an empty hand down towards his face, then slowly closing his fist and pulling backwards.

Air left Dave’s lungs in a steady trickle, not returning no matter how hard he gasped. It was like being suffocated, the world going black at the edges as he struggled to keep calm. Was this the end? Things were getting blurry now, and it was harder to keep his grip on his sword, but he managed to force himself forwards and slash at the being’s body. While no injury seemed evident, it did force the being to relinquish his grasp on Dave’s air and make it disappear with the hammer, reverting to the sky to watch like a silent threat.

Grateful he could breathe again, Dave gasped and panted till his lungs ached to get rid of the lingering air hunger and braced himself for a potential followup impact. What WAS this thing? Why could it move so fast? The face had looked masculine, handsome even if you could get past the creep factor of the undead looking skin and the hollow glowing eyes.

“I can do that any time I want,” called the figure, voice low and threatening. The wind kicked up once more. “Do you really want to fight me?”

“So long as you’re a threat to this world, I’ll fight,” Dave insisted, lowering into a fighting stance, sword pointed downwards and body angled properly. The fact this thing could apparently control his breath was alarming, but… what choice did he really have? This was his job, his world, his home. He had to protect it, even if it resulted in his death. Hephaestus would allow nothing less of him. 

The glowing eyes narrowed, annoyed.

“Your world is going to fall. It will serve a grand purpose, but it will fall… Would you rather save yourself, knowing it’s inevitable?” he asked. “Nothing lasts forever. Not even myself or you.”

Dave grit his teeth.

“Nothing lasts forever, but I’m going to make it last as long as I can, same as those who came before me and those who will come after me,” he insisted. “We don’t go down without a fight here on Earth, and we’re not short on fighters.”

Why was he talking to this thing? Agitated and ready to rumble to prove his point, Dave ran forwards and leapt as hard as he could, jumping high towards the man and swinging his blade, smirking when he managed to rip the strange windblown hood he wore along its long tail.

The being frowned… and disappeared once more as a dark breeze, darting higher into the atmosphere and then further away faster than Dave could trace with his eyes, let alone keep up with easily. He huffed and turned to look at the mess, the grist slowly fading and heading back towards the owners, then looked at himself as he put his blade away. Gross. Worse, this was going to hurt when he changed back, he just fucking knew it.

It was with a bit of a limp that he turned back up at the apartment, surprised to find food on the stove again, and juice on the counter. Bro was resting on the futon, ankles crossed and long arms folded over his stomach, hat perched on his face to help block out light as he’d removed his shades to rest. Deciding not to wake him up, lest he have to explain what had just happened and get him all riled up for shit he couldn’t even help with, Dave quietly helped himself to the food and juice and limped to his room. He’d barely finished eating before he’d curled up on his side and passed out asleep into uneasy dreams.

  
  
  
  


\- - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  
  
  


There was no denying it. That was Dave. That was 100% undeniably Dave that John had seen, his voice, his defiant face. He’d kissed that cheek, had seen those red eyes behind their protective sunglasses close enough to recognize them without the barrier. The hair was different, snowy white and positively radiant, but the rest was a clear match. Dave, his Dave, was a fighter. One of the chosen. Not just a random Earthling, but an enemy.

His enemy.

John floated upside down as he sent a message Dave’s direction asking how he was, if he wanted to hang out sometime again. If, maybe, just maybe, they could try that kiss thing again. Getting no answer, he sighed and instead fiddled with the ships observational systems to pull up an image of the fight. He stroked the screen absently when Dave’s aggressive features lit it up, touching it as if he were touching Dave’s face, the space beside his eyes, his lips. White hair suited him, really. Would it stay white if he captured him, or would it return to the familiar blonde once he was knocked unconscious? Would he be able to fight once they left Earth together?

Leaving alone was no longer an option in John’s mind. He had to bring Dave with him, and in light of the new information, it didn’t seem like it was going to be easy. Even with all of their differences in strengths, he’d still managed to slice his hood. He’d not lost consciousness before when he was being suffocated. He took out the ogre, and all his imps. Not as if he was losing much in that department, he had plenty of others growing in their tanks, ready to fight at a moments notice. He’d need to be cautious with this, consider all the options, and plan things thoroughly.

The image repeated, scanned itself, and became a 3D image instead, a hologram stuck in a fighting stance before John flicked his hands over the screen and styled it like a drawing. The Dave in the image dropped its sword and t-posed for a moment with a blank expression.

Bluh, no, that looked stupid. Come on John, focus, this was your ship, you knew the controls for something simple as a hologram!

Though it took some fiddling, soon enough John had settled the battle ready Dave on his knees, sitting back on his feet in repose. The aggressive, defiant look suited him… but this was all a fantasy. He could do what he wanted here. Biting his lip, John’s gray finger turned the scowl into a soft smile, made the eyes shy. Surprised, maybe, but shy as they’d been when he kissed his cheek.

What would Dave look like with no clothing on…? What would he look like while in the throes of passion? What would it look like when he bore not only John’s insignia, but marks from his teeth and nails on his body? What would the look of defeat seem like on his face, or tears in his eyes? John’s mind ran wild as his hands worked with the image, changing the clothing to something less form fitting, less intense than the red. Softer. White fabric, draped, bare legs. He looked like an old deity, and running with that mental image John added decorations, added ornamentation till he was content and saved the image for later.

It felt like a filthy secret to have all on his own, that image. Even if it was chaste, the knowledge that John could do whatever he pleased with the model was appealing only to a point. What he wanted was to know what those things really looked like, instead of an estimation. He wanted to see them in the flesh, the adoration, the tears, the marks…

He had two goals, now. To see these things, and to get Dave to his planet once Earth was drained of grist.

  
  
  
  


\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  
  
  


After some back and forth, Dave had not only agreed to wanting to try the kissing thing, but had even been so bold as to go a step further and begin flirting outright in their messages. It was a whirlwind romance, and Dave was thirsty for more considering he never thought he’d be able to experience things like this with his duties. So far, things had been going according to plan, but the second he’d been able to meet up and actually kiss the boy, it was like his mind had blanked out.

John had taken them to a fairly private area to enjoy the nice weather, and one thing had led to another: John leaned over and Dave went for his lips, and now nothing could separate them without force getting involved. Human contact was something that Dave didn’t realize he craved that much. Just general contact like a touch, a kiss. Touch starved in ways family couldn’t provide.

Slowly, Dave inched forward till he finally settled on John’s welcoming warm lap, arms nestled around his neck to hold him close as if afraid he’d disappear from beneath him. He made a soft sound when John curled his arms around his back in turn, squeezing him tight. It was like a sign to go a bit heavier, which Dave obliged, parting his lips and gently licking at John’s till they parted, allowing him to explore and be explored in turn. The world ceased to exist around them, if only for those moments. They could have been floating through space for all Dave cared, it would have been a perfect way to spend the rest of his limited time.

It was strange, how intensely he wanted this. He wanted to drag John down to the ground and climb him, wanted to grind the hardness he was nursing against his thigh, wanted to rub his hands beneath his sweater and shirt. Instead he settled for gently rocking against what he felt beneath him to show interest before coming up for air. His eyes were dilated, taking in as much of John as he could at the moment, and he just about melted when he smiled at him.

“I’m glad you came with me today,” John murmured, wanting to keep their faces close together, sharing the warmth of their breath like a secret. Cautiously, slowly, he reached his hands down and clasped Dave’s ass, kneading it gently while keeping him comfortably close. Dave melted, pressing closer against his chest before resting his face down beside John’s neck, planting a kiss against his pulse point before resting his cheek on his shoulder. Savoring. Memorizing.

“Of course,” Dave said. “This is… I don’t know. I didn’t think I’d get to experience somethin’ that felt this right before.”

“This right, huh?” John asked, giving another knead. Dave sighed against him and relaxed more, lifting a hand to toy with the dark hair on the back of his neck. “What’s making it so right?”

“You, mostly. I’ve never had somethin’ like this before. Never had time.”

“Yeah, you seem like a busy guy,” John chuckled. “Sometimes you answer messages right away, other times its hours. You should put yourself on invisible more often.”

“Yeah… not my fault, sometimes I get busy or distracted at weird hours,” Dave smirked. “What about you, Mr. Awake At All Hours?”

“Sleep is for the weak, I can do it when I’m dead.”

Snorting, Dave pulled back and kissed John’s cheek before he was pulled in and pressed their foreheads together. He grinned, eyes crinkling behind his shades as they clicked against John’s glasses. He could stay here forever.

But there was no time.

Screams erupted from nearby, just barely in earshot, and Dave’s adrenaline kicked in. He shuffled off of John’s lap awkwardly and dusted himself down, before looking around, trying to find the source of the sound.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah but it’s far away, let’s not get involved,” John recommended, not rising from the bench yet.

“I wanna see what’s happenin’ though,” Dave said, estimating where the noise was finally coming from. “What if people need help?”

“Then cops and ambulances would help them,” John said with a slight frown.

“Yeah, but what if nobody’s called yet?” Dave asked, already backing up the correct direction. 

“Dave, I thought we were gonna get lunch an-”

“I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you!” he finally said, turning to dart away before things could escalate even more. The screams continued, with a loud series of percussive thuds that made Dave realize it was another attack instead of just humans being terrible to each other.

Broad daylight, and two ogres had been unleashed, imps dancing around collecting grist greedily and sealing it away for whatever purpose they were collecting it for. Dave sought a secluded spot out of view and allowed himself the time to change before diving in, white hair whipping in the breeze that was brewing. It looked and felt like a storm was coming, which didn’t bode well when fighting creatures comprised mainly of oily substances.

Two of them. Two massive ogres at once, and many dancing smaller enemies. Dave knew he’d need to stop time for this one, likely, but the appeal of slowing it instead, of using less of his time up, was stronger. There was something different this time, though, and he felt it as soon as he set foot in range of the beasts: they looked at him like a target instead of an enemy. The imps focused in on him and charged as a cohesive unit, working together to try surrounding him every time Dave jumped out of range. He scarcely had time to summon the timetables, let alone use them and whip his sword out, constantly slipping and sliding as he landed on the oily surface and dealt with wind.

He danced back and spun the timetables to slow time, and rushed through the crowd as he had before, swinging at the lesser imps wildly before rushing the large ogres to stab and slash best he could, doing damage collectively instead of all at once. Even slowed down it was overwhelming, with Dave constantly having to feint back and charge again and again as the two ogres focused in on him with their alternating attacks and tusks.

He’d need to stop time. It was apparent that this was a period where it was absolutely needed and very worthwhile, and yet Dave still hesitated. How did Hephaestus work this out? Was his time equal to the minutes frozen, or was there interest? Would he be taking away his own life in vain? Was there really no other way? The wind whipped at him again, chilling him to the bone as time straightened itself out once more, leaving him ready with his sword and plans to summon the timeturners again till a familiar sensation struck him.

The air in his lungs went sour and metallic before it seemed to leave him entirely. Panicked, Dave looked around and realized the wind was dark, unnatural, and could have kicked himself. Of course that bastard was back. He had been careful to focus on the ogres and imps, but had left himself open otherwise to a threat that had been right in front of him since arrival. It hadn’t been windy when he was with John, just chilly. Now? Now it was whistling in his ears and whipping his cape around as he staggered back, trying to protect himself against the ogres and advancing imps even as his breath left him empty and gasping for oxygen.

Dave felt heavy hands upon him, and things went black.


End file.
